


Safe Place

by fadedcokecans



Series: 'Cause I'm not too far and you're my favourite place [1]
Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26438026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadedcokecans/pseuds/fadedcokecans
Summary: Marie finally found her safe place.
Relationships: Marie Dolvik/Ingrid Engen
Series: 'Cause I'm not too far and you're my favourite place [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1921807
Kudos: 6





	Safe Place

Marie doesn't much like talking about her tattoos. 

Tattoo therapy is sort of Marie's safe space. She's spent most of her time in a tattoo parlour outside of football.

Marie Dølvik Markussen was supposed to be the biggest up and coming star for Norway, along with Caroline Graham Hansen. But a move to Wolfsburg that was too much, too fast, she sort of faded into obscurity, never reaching the same level of recognition of Caro. Then Henning was diagnosed with cancer, and Marie never made an appearance for Wolfsburg. She'd signed a deal with Vålerenga, and stayed close to home to be close to her family. 

She'd started getting her small tattoos while Henning was getting treated for his cancer. She already had a sleeve from 2016, but started expressing herself through her tattoos. Small doodles that served as reminders for herself, soon adorned her arms, abs, and legs. Marie and Henning had gotten matching tattoos across their backs, as a depiction of how much they had gone through together. 

At 12 years old, she'd displayed her skill and tenacity with the ball to the Royal Couple and the Canadian Governor. She was the best footballer in her home town in Kvaløya in Tromsø, Norway. The best women's teams had fought to sign the 15 year old star who trained with Tromsø's second division team, and she'd end up at Stabæk. After joining the Toppserien club, football migrated from fun to life or death. She wanted to play badly, but she was riddled with leg and knee injuries. At 18 years old, she'd made her international debut for Norway. With her debut, Wolfsburg came knocking. As soon as she'd signed, doubts crept into her mind. She'd wanted to play for Wolfsburg, but she hated it. Her body didn't agree with the culture shock, and she didn't like the German was of football. 

Henning was her rock that year. And then he got sick, and Marie abandoned the German club. Her move from Wolfsburg to Vålerenga proved good for her mental health. Her insecurities on and off the pitch washed away. As Henning underwent treatment, Marie started documenting her life on her body, both the good and bad moments. 

Henning had surgery in 2018, and was officially cancer-free. Marie found herself again, and she fell in love with the game again. Football wasn't life or death anymore. 

Marie had a bit of help, falling back in love with the game. Ingrid really became her rock as she went through everything. 

She was passed up by Martin Sjögren, the Swedish coach of the Norwegian international team. But she never dwelled on it, taking her life day by day, and creating a safe place around her. 

Marie sometimes doesn't answer her teammates after they ask her what the tattoos mean. There are pieces that she keeps too close to her heart to share casually. 

<>

Ingrid Syrstad Engen knows she's only going to get better at football. A fairly impressive World Cup with Norway didn't live up to her expectations. The football was incredible, and to play for her country at the highest possible level was fantastic, but the experience felt like it was missing something. Perhaps someone. Ingrid knew that she absolutely loved representing her country, but Marie could have made the experience so much better. Marie wasn't on the same level as Elise Thorsnes, Caroline Graham Hansen, or Lisa-Marie Utland, and she didn't have too much international experience, but Martin Sjögren is known for cultivating and nurturing young teams. He did it for Linköpings in Sweden's Damallsvenskan, helping to turn Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson into the stars they are today.

Ingrid knew Marie was a young spark for Norway. She could do incredible things with the ball. No, she didn't score an abundance of goals like Caro or Lisa-Marie, but she had the skill and speed to weave in and out of players, and the vision to play another player into space, in their stride, perfect for them to take a one touch shot. She had the skill that many would dream of, and Ingrid knew this. Ingrid knew of Marie's skill because she'd studied her play for hours, trying to learn how to shut down the striker. She also knew this from watching her games, tracking her every move, incredibly proud of her girlfriend for becoming the player she is today, even if she isn't what the Norwegian media predicted for her at a young age. 

But Ingrid had undergone plenty of development and training to become the player she is. She started her professional career at the Toppserien's most successful club. She spent four years, rejecting offers from other clubs, at SK Trondheims-Ørn before signing a contract with LSK Kvinner. Ingrid helped LSK win the league and the cup, and then signed a contract with Wolfsburg, but went back to LSK on loan. 

During 2018, in her first season at LSK, she played against Marie and her Vålerengra side. They had actually played against each other since 2014 in the Toppserien, until Marie signed for Wolfsburg in December of 2016. 

Ingrid got her first cap in early 2018. Later that year, she scored her first goal, in Norway's win over the Netherlands, giving them passage to the World Cup. Martin praised her, saying that she looked to have been playing international football for years. Ingrid didn't feel like she played like how Martin said. 

The World Cup was a bit hard for Ingrid. By then, she'd gotten used to not seeing Marie in person everyday, but at least they were in the same country. They could have finally played on the same team, finally, in France, both representing the country they loved. Instead, Marie had training with Vålerenga, and she and her teammates watched Norway, and their fellow teammate Sherida Spitse with the Netherlands, fight for their places in the knockout rounds. 

<>

Marie knows she'll have her opportunity to play football for Norway. She knows it won't be in a tournament like the Euros. She knows she hasn't played for Norway since 2015.

Marie is still a young spark for Norway. Only 23, and she's losing that wide-eyed innocence she had going to Wolfsburg. Maybe the tattoos are helping. Marie knows that she'll never be like Caro: seemingly unemotional and completely professional. She'll always carry this streak of mischief and dorky-ness that can manifest itself in funky tattoos, a random selfie without any context, or the need to throw a middle finger up in a photo op. 

If Norway wasn't the place for Marie to shine, she could always sign for a bigger club. She wasn't the nineteen year old kid who hated the German football culture anymore. Sometimes she still felt like the twelve year old kid who showed off to the Norwegian royal couple. She still had the juggling skill and love of being on the ball that she had back then. Sometimes she acts like a twelve year old, fooling around with teammates with an innocent smile on her face. 

If she gets the chance to play for Norway again, she'll probably get a tattoo for it. 

There's a meaning behind each and every one of her tattoos. 

Marie doesn't much like to talk about her tattoos. 

One she will talk about is her neck tattoo. 

Safe place.

The tattoo parlour is a safe place for her. 

Ingrid Syrstad Engen is also a her safe place.


End file.
